Use Me
by WriteMyDreams7
Summary: Sho gets tired of watching Kei suffer, and uses his own method to help his friend.


**I wrote this back in early 2010. It's old and I haven't edited it, but I still like it since I captured the emotions I wanted to portray in the fic.**

Sho pushed open the door of his and Kei's apartment, closing it behind him and glancing around for the vampire. There was no sign of him, and Sho assumed he was still asleep since it wasn't quite evening yet. Sho locked the door and headed towards the bedroom, pausing as he noticed Kei fast asleep on the futon. A light sheet was draped over his small form and his golden hair hung in his eyes, obscuring the face that had grown too thin, too pale as of late.

The human frowned as he studied his sleeping friend. Kei was always pale since he couldn't go out in sunlight, but his unhealthy pallor worried him. Sho knew Kei was very weak since the vampire hadn't fed in almost two weeks, and it was taking a huge toll on his body – draining his strength even further with every day he went without blood. Kei's natural grace was gone, and instead of his light, even steps he stumbled around in a haze of exhaustion. More than once Sho had ended up carrying him home, ignoring the vampire's feeble protests that he could walk. He saw straight through Kei's lies though. The vampire could barely stand, let alone walk.

As if he could hear Sho's thoughts, Kei's dark eyes fluttered open. Sho watched him push himself up on one elbow, slender frame trembling with the effort of performing such a simple action.

"Morning. Or evening." Sho smiled wryly, heading over to Kei. He sat down next to the vampire, brushing Kei's hair out of his eyes before grasping his shoulders and pulling him into a sitting position.

"Stop, Sho… I can sit up myself," Kei grumbled.

Sho ignored him. The vampire was obviously incapable of doing so. "Kei, you need to feed… as soon as you can."

"I'm fine. I'm just tired."

"Oh?" Sho arched an eyebrow, easily pushing Kei down onto his back to demonstrate how weak the vampire was. "No you're not. You can barely move, let alone walk, and you couldn't stop me. If you'd been healthy you could have thrown me through the wall easily, but when you're like this I could push you off the bed with my pinky."

"I'm fine," Kei snapped, struggling to sit up. Sho kept his hand on the vampire's chest, holding him down. This was an argument they'd had all too many times: one that Sho was tired of having. He wouldn't let Kei up until he'd made his point.

"No you're not. Why do you always do this to yourself? You're my best friend, Kei. It hurts me when I see you like this, when I have to watch you wasting away before my eyes because you won't take care of yourself." Sho sniffed, trying not to cry as he looked down at Kei with serious eyes.

"Sho," the vampire sighed. "Stop crying for me. I'm just a monster; I don't deserve your care."

"I'm not crying!" Sho stubbornly wiped his eyes.

Kei smiled faintly. "Yes you are. You'll always be a crybaby, Sho. Just like I'll always be a monster."

The human scowled. "Stop saying that!"

Kei averted his eyes. "Why? It's the truth. I am a monster, and I deserve to suffer."

Sho grasped his chin and turned his face back. "That's not true. If you were as monstrous as you claim, I wouldn't be alive. You'd have bitten me when I first found you or you wouldn't have saved me when I was little, or all the other times I've gotten myself in danger. We've even lived together for years, and you've never turned on me."

"Because you'd cry if I did." Kei shot him a tired smirk, pushing at Sho's arm with a feeble hand as a signal for him to get up.

Sho pouted in response, but removed his hand from Kei's chest and helped him sit up again. "No I wouldn't."

"You cried the last time we had this discussion. Now stop harassing me. I told you I'll be fine, so quit worrying about me." Kei swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood, delicate legs trembling as he struggled to hold himself up. Sho easily swept the exhausted vampire off his feet and up into his arms, amused by the shocked noise Kei made. "Sho!" he yelped. "Put me down!"

"No." Sho carried him into the kitchen, ignoring the vampire's stubborn complaints that he could walk fine. Once in the kitchen, Sho set him down on the counter, chuckling to himself at the sight of Kei's short legs dangling over the edge. Kei was so little, and his petite frame only made him look more vulnerable when he was this weak.

"What the hell, Sho?" Kei looked irritated, but the expression faded from his features as Sho took a knife out of one of the drawers. "Put that down," Kei warned. Sho ignored him, and the vampire stiffened as Sho put the knife to his wrist, angling the blade so that he'd avoid slicing into the major veins. He didn't want to bleed out in his kitchen with a starving vampire at his side.

"No. If you won't go out and feed, then I'll bring blood to you." And before Kei could do or say anything, Sho had pierced his skin. Kei shuddered and bit his lip hard as Sho set the knife aside. The tips of Kei's fangs poked out of his mouth as he smelled the blood, and Sho grabbed the vampire's shirt to prevent him from bolting. He then raised his wrist to Kei's lips. "Go on. Drink. Use me and satisfy your craving so you don't have to fight someone to get their blood tonight."

"No," Kei whimpered, turning his head aside and covering his mouth, obviously ashamed of his fangs.

"Yes!" Sho refused to take no for an answer anymore. He roughly shoved the vampire down onto his back again and jumped on top of him, straddling Kei's chest and pinning him down. Kei gasped in surprise, and Sho knocked the vampire's hand away from his mouth before shoving his wrist into Kei's face. He pressed his bloody skin against Kei's lips. "Drink my blood, Kei. I'm offering this to you willingly, and if you don't drink it I'll sit here all day," Sho threatened, rubbing his wrist against Kei's mouth. The vampire's hands shook as he grasped Sho's wrist, whimpering softly as he pressed the bloody limb closer. Finally, he plunged his fangs into Sho's skin. The human hissed in pain but didn't move, pushing his discomfort aside. This was all for Kei. A little pain was worth it since Kei was finally feeding, which Sho was glad about.

After a few minutes, the human braced himself with his free hand, starting to feel dizzy. Kei showed no sign of stopping though. He clutched Sho's wrist tightly as he sucked at the wound, lapping up the blood with his tongue.

"Kei," Sho gasped, twitching his wrist. Kei growled around the limb and continued drinking. "Kei, stop! You'll take too much." Sho tugged, but his wrist was caught firmly between the vampire's teeth. Kei growled again, and Sho grasped his wrist before pulling again. He finally managed to rip the limb out of his friend's mouth, wincing horribly as Kei's sharp fangs dragged across his skin. Sho clutched his injured wrist against his chest as he jumped off the vampire, backing up to put some distance between them.

Kei sat up and growled a third time, baring his blood-drenched fangs at Sho. He looked positively eerie with Sho's blood coating his mouth, and the human retreated again. Kei was obviously furious at being deprived of his meal.

"Kei, calm down. It's Sho," he soothed, but Kei wasn't himself. The vampire pounced, knocking the taller man off his feet. He winced as he slammed into the tile floor, but didn't stay vulnerable for long. He grasped Kei's small hips and rolled them over, sitting up again and pressing the vampire's arms down with his knees. Kei's fangs had been far too close to his neck for his liking.

"Get off!" The vampire snarled, easily freeing his arms from Sho's hold and flipping the taller man over onto his back. He pinned him against the tiles and leaned over, staring lustfully at Sho's throat.

"Kei, it's me. I'm Sho, your best friend. Remember? I saved you in the warehouse when I was nine. I took you with me, and you saved me too when that man came for his money," Sho said, meeting Kei's wild eyes as he struggled to keep the fear out of his voice. He'd never been so afraid for his life before because of Kei. The vampire had never behaved like this before, but Sho refused to back down. "So please, come back. I know you're in there. I know _my _Kei is in there… and I know there's more to you than just fangs and blood lust. So bring my Kei back. I want my best friend."

Kei shuddered at the words, fangs slowly shrinking as the crazed look faded from his eyes. He immediately wrenched away from Sho, huddling up against the wall and trembling as he wrapped his arms around himself. "I could have killed you. I…I _wanted _to. I wanted to drink my full, no matter what the cost to your life," he whispered, staring at Sho with wide, horrified eyes.

The human slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, going over to Kei and wrapping his good arm around the vampire before pressing him close. "But you didn't. You listened to me, and you came back."

Kei shuddered again, shoulders jerking as he wiped his mouth clean with his sleeve. Sho gently brushed his fingers through the vampire's blonde hair before leaning down and placing a light kiss to the top of his head, comforting Kei as the other had done when they'd last fought over Kei's unhealthy eating habits.

"I'm so sorry, Sho."

"Hush. I'm glad you drank my blood."

Kei stared up at him with incredulous eyes. "You're _glad?_ What's wrong with you? Do you have a death wish?"

"Nothing's wrong with me, and I don't have a death wish. I wanted to help you, and I was finally able to do so."

Kei frowned but stood, grasping Sho's hand and pulling him to his feet. "You shouldn't have done that. I was so close to sinking my fangs into your neck and finishing you off."

"But you didn't," Sho reminded, wishing Kei would stop beating himself up over it. The vampire just grumbled and took him into the bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet and pulling out Band-Aids and a wash cloth. Sho leaned against the counter, feeling exhaustion setting in. Kei had drunk a lot of blood and the ensuing conflict had drained him. He'd recover with sleep and food though.

Sho watched as Kei turned the water on and dipped the cloth in the sink. He wiped the blood off Sho's wrist before applying two Band-Aids to his injuries, making sure the cut and the puncture wounds were covered before releasing his wrist. He didn't look away from Sho's skin though, frowning as he studied the marks on Sho's forearm from where his fangs had dragged across the skin.

"Sho… promise me you'll never do something like that again."

"I can't promise that."

Kei raised his gaze, looking frustrated. "Why not? Don't you understand how close you were to dying?"

"Stop it, Kei. I already gave you my reasons for why I did this, and why I'd do it again. You're my best friend, and I'm sick of watching you starve yourself. So when you get thirsty, I'll give you my blood. You can just take a little of mine a day, that way you won't have to kill as many people."

Kei shuddered at the thought. "Absolutely not! Now that I've had your blood once I don't know if I could control myself a second time. I'd rather kill some criminal than hurt you again."

"And I'd rather you bite me than watch you starve," Sho countered. "I trust you, Kei. I know you won't lose control." Sho tousled Kei's hair before drawing back. The vampire still needed blood, but he'd be fine until their next mission in two days. Then he could feed again and properly restore his strength. Despite their conversation, Sho knew Kei would do the exact same thing the next time he grew thirsty. Sho would fight him again though. He wasn't going to let the vampire wither away ever again. He owed his friend more than that.


End file.
